Fighting Fate
by methodtothismadness
Summary: Astrid was prepared to be the guardian angel to a great warrior; a man who shook the world with his battle cry and all trembled before him. She was not prepared to be the guardian of a scrawny, curious, danger magnet who insisted on befriending dragons. [Hiccstrid]
1. Chapter 1

Astrid Hofferson was not prepared for this. She had faced many, many trials in her life that most would see as more difficult than the situation she was presently facing. She looked little more than 14 years old but she had defeated enemies more than twice her size. Had single handedly led an entire troop of her shield brothers and sisters to victory. She was the best at both hand-to-hand combat and wielding her ax on the battle field.

But this was not a battle. Not yet anyway.

This was a _boy._

A tiny, red, wailing, absolute hiccup of a boy- swathed in furs and tucked into his mothers arms. This was what she had been preparing for? Training for? To guard and guide this runt of the litter? She could not possibly be expected to waste her talents on someone who would, chances were, not live out the night. She turned to leave the house but a sharp tug just behind her navel prevented her. The more she pulled against it the more it pulled her back towards the newborn babe until she was forced to stamp back to his mothers bedside. Keeping her wings tucked in tight to her body under her heavy woolen cloak she stood over the bed; there was no way out of this. She knew it, though she hated to accept it.

"Oh, Stoick, he's so small. He's too early into this world." The boys mother, face and auburn hair still damp and clinging in strands to her cheeks with sweat from the birth, clutched the boy to her chest.

Stoick leaned in to kiss his wife's forehead and took the boy into his arms. The baby stopped crying as he was cuddled into the large mans beard and waved his tiny hands in the air. Stoick smiled down at his son, eyes wet, and held his finger in front of the boy - who then clasped the over sized finger in his hands.

"A good grip on him! Look, Val, he's already strong. He's going to grow up to be the strongest Berk has ever seen, don't you worry. Our little Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. All will fear his name and face!"

_Oh, they could not be serious?_ Astrid couldn't hold back a snort. Naming him Hiccup? She understood Vikings and their strange taste for names but Hiccup? Well, if nothing else the Viking chief was at least observant. All will fear his name and face? His name was a joke and his face looked as sweet as a kittens. She moved across the room as Stoick placed the boy, Hiccup, in his cradle and moved his hold his wife's hands and she quickly fell asleep. Coming to a halt in front of the cradle she looked down at the boy who, with wide, green, eyes was taking in all he could see. Now that he was quiet he didn't look all that horrible. Small, yes. Alarmingly small? Definitely. But his curious eyes promised a strong mind. And perhaps he would grow into a fine, young warrior. After all it was her that had been chosen to protect his fate. Pulling down the hood from her cloak she allowed her thick golden braid to fall down her shoulder and leaned closer to him to see if, maybe, up close she could see and hidden secrets this underwhelming child held.

There were the hints of freckles on his cheeks, and a tiny, pudgy nose and the lovely smell that all babies seemed to come by naturally. But other than forest green eyes that already seemed to be asking questions to the world there was no inkling that he would be a great swordsman. Nor could she imagine a spear in his hands. A battle hammer was out of the question. But there was something there. Something she couldn't name. She placed a hand on his head and smoothed out the thin auburn tresses that matched the colour of his mothers hair so perfectly.

"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Here I do stand to protect you from harm until your end of days." Astrid felt the tugging behind her navel again but instead of pulling her it pulsed as she spoke her vow. "Here do I stand to guide you in your destiny. As I swear on my Grace as an Angel- I will be your guardian." Astrid pressed her lips to Hiccups forehead and felt the odd pulsing in her stomach give one last push that shuddered throughout her body and into the very tips of her wings before it subsided. When she pulled away Hiccup had fallen asleep. Eyes shut and stomach moving up and down with his breath. She tucked his swaddling blankets tighter and stood up straight.

No, she was not prepared for this at all.

* * *

><p>Every child on Berk knew at least the basics of a guardian angel. Even if they were seen as nothing more than a bed time story to tell were great and terrible beings, dedicated to watching their wards. And only those with great fates in their hands were guarded. Linked at birth and linked until death a guardians job was to nudge their ward into their fate- and protect them from an untimely death.<p>

Astrid, being one of those guardians herself, knew it wasn't quite that simple or easy.

100 years of her eternal life had been spent dreaming of becoming a guardian and when her High Council presented her with the opportunity she took it without a second thought. Their instruction was vague. Little more than where and when the child would be born and that they would change the course of their world. And that they would be a ... challenge. But the small blonde angel was never one to turn down a challenge. She had conquered everything the world and the Council had thrown at her so far and was ready to take this on. She had spoken to other angels. Not asking for help. Of course not asking for help. Just fishing for a little information about how to exactly go about guiding someone to a fate that you yourself weren't even privy to? That was the biggest hurdle. Trying to figure out what the child's fate would be. She asked the High Council a few days before the boys birth if they could tell her but they just told her in that smug High Council tone that everything would be revealed as it needed to be. Very helpful.

With this lack of helpful information Astrid was starting to feel the beginnings of doubt in her heart. Though she would kill anyone who dared to bring it up to her. But honestly? How was she to be expected to guide some kid to a destiny she didn't know.

In the week before Hiccup's birth Astrid spent most of her time on Berk. She learned the paths, the cliffs, the roar of the ocean and the depths of the hidden caves and tried to catalog all the possible dangers that could be a potential This-Kid-Is-Going-To-Die-And-I'll-Be-Fired-And-De-Winged hazards. Her fourth night on the island brought about a dragon raid and as the beasts descended upon the village she let loose a string of not so heavenly curses that would be sure to make her superiors wash her mouth out with soap.

"Dragons, this island is at war with dragons. Oh Gods." Her face paled as she watched the creatures swoop in to steal entire flocks of sheep. So not only would she have to be wary of the steep cliffs and deep lakes but she would have to be on her toes to keep her ward safe from _dragons_. Her hands itched for her ax as she saw the vikings spill the blood of any dragon that came near enough. Oh, it had been so long since she had been in a battle like this. Astrid ached to be able to feel the burn of her muscles and the thrill of Kill or Be Killed. She had half a mind to fly into the battle but the logical part of her reminded the blood thirsty warrior part that she was not a physical being in this realm and all her blows would go through whichever enemy she turned her sights on. Once her ward was grown and trained she would be able to nudge their arm and swing a certain way. Or whisper into their ear if an attacker was coming around from their back but for now she was stuck as little more than a shadow.

_This must be it_, she thought with excitement, _this child must be fated to defeat the dragons_. There were no other great hardships that she could see on Berk. A little low on food and some of the harshest weather she'd ever seen but neither of those were worthy of a guardian angel. Dragons on the other hand. Now that was something she could help with.

As the sun rose the remaining dragons flew away from the island with whatever food they could carry off. Sunlight began to filter through the branches of the old growth forest and morning fog began to roll in off the water. She heard roosters crowing in the distance. Though she couldn't imagine that anyone who had slept through a dragon raid would be woken up by the crow of a rooster. Stretching out her tense back muscles and pulling off her cloak she expanded her wings and let the first rays of sun warm the tips of her wings. Astrid was not normally a vain girl but when it came to her wings she was prouder than a Nadder. Cream coloured and flecked with gold they shined in the sun. The tips of her primary feathers faded to deep brown and were manicured into perfect rounded points. The trails through the forests of Berk were pleasant enough to walk through but the sight of the sun rising over the island from the sky was something else entirely. Something she would not accept missing for even a single day. She would admit to loosing too many hours flying through the crisp air, twirling and spinning and letting her cares drop off her . Tossing off her cloak and extending her wings to their full span she shot off the ground like an arrow from a bow. The air was still chilled from the night and the fog dampened her hair as she rose higher and higher until she could blot out the moving villagers below with her fingertip.

A deep breath in and she dropped into a free-fall. Tucking her wings in she plummeted back down to the earth until she was a blink of an eye away from the ground and she leveled out and rushed through the village square and many of the vikings felt a warm sudden gust of wind pass them by. The wind extinguished a few of the lingering fires from the dragons attack and Astrid used the momentum from her drop to carry her over the water. The waves broke and sprayed sea foam into her path and left the taste of saltwater on her lips. A short while on Berk had made her thoughts on dragons mostly negative but she could not deny that, were she human, she would envy the dragons for their flight. It felt like what she was born for. As she slowed she turned and pumped her wings to carry her back over to the chiefs house which was situated on the far edge of the village. Touching her bare feet back on the ground she stepped up to the house and walked through the open doorway to see Valka easing herself down onto a chair with obvious strain. Astrid placed a hand on the womans to try and ease some of the pain caused by her heavily pregnant belly. As she placed her hands on her back Valka winced and held her own hands to her stomach.

"Ouch, little one. No need to kick so hard." Valka laughed as she finally sat down fully on the chair. "What's got you so worked up? The dragon raid?"

Astrid thrust a fist in the air.

"Yes! Not even born yet and already the kid is ready to destroy some dragons!"

Three nights later, Valka felt the first pains of labour and Astrid felt her Grace pulling her towards the house and knew it meant that her ward was on his way into the world.

**Authors Note: Well, here it is folks. I got struck with inspiration last night and needed to write it down before I lost motivation. Is there an interest in this here? Please let me know. I might keep posting as I write but I may take like 2 weeks and write every night so that I stay ahead of the game. This is my first HTTYD fic so if there's any advice I would be grateful to hear it! Thank you for reading and please review so I know if there's actually enough people interested for me to continue this? **

**I'm thinking that it will stick fairly close to the canon of the movies but hey who knows. **


	2. Chapter 2

Berk was an incredible island. It had stood for seven generations (though every building was new). There were great views of the sunset, dense forests to roam through and a coastal beach that was to die for. The only problem, in Astrid's opinion, was her job.

"Hiccup! Do not touch that!"

It was a village that had felt like home to her since she had arrived five years ago.

"Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Go back inside!"

Often times she found herself sitting on the roof of the Haddock's home simply drinking in the atmosphere. Filled with other stubborn and determined minds she felt truly at peace here.

"No no no nonono! Just, ugh, just go sit in your room and please try not to put another hole in your wall."

The run-ragged blonde slumped against the door of Hiccup's room. She had successfully corralled him in, nudging him and whispering suggestions into his ear that _wow it would be really, really fun to go draw quietly in my room for the next six hours_. The five year old menace had been attempting to create his own miniature catapult. After Gobber had shown him how one worked the past week when he was babysitting the young boy had become fixated on making his own. Astrid understood that, yes, Hiccup needed a babysitter- but did said babysitter have to be Gobber? In a forge full of very sharp instruments and a teacher that inspired Hiccup to create his own miniature death machines? Though she was a near constant presence and could instinctively tell when he was in danger the adults of the village didn't quite recognize her existence.

She imagined that Hiccup could sense her beyond the regular listening to her suggestions and gentle guidance. There were enough clues to point to that fact. Oftentime if she had left the house she would come home to find Hiccup pouting in a corner or crying for no reason with Stoick desperately trying to cheer him up. And then she would ruffle his hair and blow soft winds on his face and his tears would dry and he would be up and about in no time. The poor father must have thought his boy was suffering from severe mood swings.

Sometimes she thought she caught him staring at her. Not just the wall behind her or someone passing by but she could swear he locked eyes with her. Or she would enter a room that he was in and his head would whip around almost like he heard footsteps.

Still, she wished that there were a way that she could tell Stoick that it was not a good idea to let Hiccup into the forge. If he wanted his son to be a great fighter he would be better off leaving him with Spitelout and his own son. Hiccup's cousin may have been a horrible little human being but it would toughen the boy up. Instead Stoick sent him to Gobber- who was usually too busy working the forge to really watch the boy. Astrid hated to imagine what would have happened by now if she hadn't been there to catch falling swords and stop Hiccup from dipping his hand in molten steel.

Astrid still felt the way her heart stopped on the night that Valka was taken.

* * *

><p>She had been outside the Haddock's front door watching the battle and her Grace hadn't alerted her that Hiccup was in danger. Should the boy have been in any peril she would feel it and still she wondered why she hadn't felt it that night. It was Stoick's shout that made her realize that a four-winged demon had made it's way inside her wards room. She couldn't breathe. All parts of her body moved of it's own accord. Her wings cut through the air and within a heartbeat she was inside Hiccups room standing over his crib. Her body crouched like a feral cat and her wings acting as a barrier between the babe and the flames that were ravaging his room she drew her ax. It would do little good but having the weight in her hand gave her courage. Hiccup was crying, blood was dribbling down his chin and his mother was just staring at the creature.<p>

"Do something!" Astrid screamed at the woman "Pick him up and run!"

The young angel couldn't understand. There was a dragon in the room with Hiccup and Valka was doing nothing. No, worse than that, _she was reaching towards the damned thing like it was a pet._

"Valka! Stop! Please, pick Hiccup up and run, please!" Astrid's voice cracked as she pleaded. Lifting her ax she tried to focus her Grace into the head of the weapon, she hoped to be able to give it enough solidity to land a hit but Stoick's ax descended upon the dragon first- narrowly missing its head and Valka's hand. She breathed a quick sigh of relief. She may have been able to extend her Grace out of her body for a short moment but it would come at a great price to her. She tried not to dwell on the details of what a broken Grace could entail- or at least the horror stories the older angels had told her. She didn't want to test if they were true.

"Valka, run!" The chief shouted as he scooped up Hiccup and jumped out of the burning home. Astrid had followed the chief out of the building and turned her head in time to see the dragon clutch the chief's wife and it's claws and spread its wings.

* * *

><p>The home she guarded became quieter after that night. There was no more singing in the kitchen in the morning; nor was there any happy chatter or snarky fighting. The chief lived in silence and spent more and more time out of his home and in the village claiming that their was work to be done there. Astrid worried that Hiccup wouldn't learn to talk as quickly living in such silence, as the other children and so she talked to him. She didn't know if he could hear it but it seemed to calm him and he talked and walked and developed as babies should. And for a while it seemed he would grow into a fine young little viking.<p>

(linebreak)

As Hiccup grew so did Astrid's doubt that he would be a great warrior. She took a page out of Stoick's book and spent time away from her ward. Some days she would stay in the clouds all day. Other times she would spend weeks at a time walking through the forests. A quick check in at night to make sure he hadn't gotten into too much trouble and she would be gone again. If there was any extreme danger she would know and could be back at the house in an instant and besides the boy did little else than draw, invent and cause trouble. He was sweet natured and paled at the sight of dead dragons when he thought no one was looking. There were few walls in his home that he hadn't knocked down by accident. But, he had the quickest wit and tongue Astrid had ever heard. Half of the time the other children wouldn't realize they'd been insulted until they were halfway home. Sarcasm was a skill he had honed to an art form.

"Hey, Useless!" A ten year old Snotlout pushed over a similarly ten year old Hiccup. Hiccup started to push himself up on his elbows but his larger cousin stepped on him with a muddy foot to keep him down. Astrid wished it was acceptable for her to hit children.

"So check it out. My dad got Gobber to make it for me." Snotlout pulled out a gleaming sword from it's sheath and pointed it's edge towards Hiccup.

"Very nice, Snotlout, now please. Can you get your foot off me. I don't wanna know where it's been." The smaller boy tried unsuccessfully to push his cousin off him.

"Hmmm. I will." Snotlout pushed down a little harder with his foot. "If! You can make me think of a good name for my new sword."

"I'm not sure I could make your brain do anything- hey! That's it! Brain Crusher." Hiccup shouted the name in a cheery voice.

"Brain Crusher?" Snotlout paused for a moment then whirled around, taking his foot off Hiccup who scrambled to his feet.

"Brain Crusher! It's perfect!" The large boy spun his sword around, fighting off imaginary enemies.

"Yeah! And since you don't have any of those you won't have to worry about hurting yourself with it."

Astrid burst out laughing at Snotlout's confusion as he tried to work out how he'd been insulted.

"Huh?" Hiccup whipped his head around at the sound of clear laughter only to find empty space. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? Hah! Now you're hearing things too? Oh, that's perfect! Hiccup goes crazy and Snotlout The Great takes over as Chief. So, like, can you speed it up with the crazy?"

But Hiccup was already walking away. He had heard it so clearly. The sound of laughter. And he knew he'd heard it before. It felt familiar.

Sometimes he really did think he was going crazy. He heard things. Usually a laugh, or a voice that he couldn't quite understand, or a shout when he was about to be hit by something falling over. He saw shadows move where there were no people to cast them. He felt hands touch him when he was alone. Other times he would feel inexplicably lonely. He didn't really have any friends, not since Fishlegs realized he was a sinking ship it was better not to be on, but there were times the house felt like it was missing someone. Though none of it frightened him for some reason. Those strange touches on his hair or on his shoulder felt calming.

It was nothing he worried about until the day he brought it up to his father.

He was 12 and he didn't know why he thought it was a good dinner conversation topic. His father was in a rare good mood. Things had been going well for the village and food stores for the winter were unusually abundant.

"So, Dad, is there like..." Hiccup began "Is there any chance our house is, maybe, possibly haunted?"

Stoick the Vast choked on a mouthful of ale.

"What are you on about now? First it's trolls- now ghosts in our house?"

"No! Really I think there's something in the house- or at least something following me!"

"Ah, you're being paranoid. There's nothin' like that here. You're spendin' too much time with Gobber." Stoick stood to carry his refill his mug.

"Please, can you just believe me about this?" The young boy's gangly limbs tangled in his attempt to stand up as well.

Stoick paused at the keg of ale and he sighed.

"Ok. Explain it to me, then. Why do you think somethin' is following you?"

Hiccup took a deep breath and tried to organize his thoughts. If he was going to try to explain anything to his stubborn father he would have to do it well.

"Sometimes I-I heard things? Like voices where there shouldn't be voices. Or see shadows in the corner of a room move-"

"Well those are easy enough explained. Tricks of the wind and of the light." Stoick interrupted, sitting back down with a full mug.

"Oh yes. Tricks of the light. Since before I can remember. I'm not being haunted by spirits I'm just being haunted by some really messed up candles." Hiccup trailed off. He should have known it would be useless to try to make his father understand. The man was brick wall.

What Hiccup didn't realize is that his father would tell Gobber about his son's "fantasies". And what the chief didn't understand is that Gobber would tell... well... everyone.

Within a week the general consensus of the village was that Hiccup was even more cursed than they had thought before. No longer was he just a kid who had a bad streak of breaking things and couldn't lift a sword to save his life. Now he was cursed by the Gods. Parents tugged their children away when he passed by and the kids his age stayed their distance- other than to use the "cursed boy" as punching practice. He could handle those things. But the whispers he heard as he walked through the marketplace were worse.

"...Cursed by the Gods themselves. Why else is he still so small? Demons must be takin' half his strength."

"The poor chief. He must be so ashamed."

"Wonder when Stoick's gonna announce who's gonna be the heir now. Can't have a cursed boy runnin' the village- it would be Berk's downfall."

"Should have tossed the boy off the cliff when he was born... lettin' him live angered the Gods. That's why he's cursed."

When Astrid returned from one of her weeks long stints in the woods it was to a Hiccup who had stopped leaving his room. It took her a while to figure out what had happened as Hiccup obviously wasn't telling her and Stoick had gone on another search for the dragon's nest so she couldn't eavesdrop on their conversations for answers.

It wasn't until Gobber arrived at the house to apologize that she got her answer.

Guilt welled in her stomach. She had caused this.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup. I'm so sorry." She stood over his bedside as he slept and whispered apologies. She stayed away for a while. Hoping that her absence would stop the flow of rumors that were snowballing. But the damage was done.

From then on Astrid didn't leave her wards side. He took up working and training under Gobber as a blacksmith and told no one that he still saw glimpses of someone out of the corner of his eye. Sometimes a flash of blonde hair or he would hear the fluttering of wings- but these were things he kept to himself.

For two years Hiccup kept the strange occurrences to himself. He ignored the warmth of the empty seat next to him in the great hall and he didn't talk about how he never overslept because something had woken him up on time.

"Dragon raid! Hiccup, wake up!" Astrid shook the shoulders of the small brunette. It was still the early; about an hour till sunrise and dragons soared overhead.

"Hm? Wha?" The boy rubbed his eyes and roused slowly from his bed.

"Can you move any faster? There's a nightmare on your roof and you need to get to the forge!" She tugged at his fur vest.

"D-dragon raid! I have to get to the forge!" He flew out of bed in a tangle of limbs and tugged on a single shoe and looked around for the other one, trying to ignore the increasing banging on the roof of his house. Astrid spotted the other shoe tucked far under his bed and pushed it closer to his foot.

"Ah! There it is. Thank you Mystery Ghost Who Ruined My Life." Astrid narrowed her eyes at the nickname he'd taken to calling her. She smacked the back of his head and he flinched then smirked as he ran out of his room and down the stairs.

"Geez. Getting awfully violent these days, Mr. Ghost." He pulled open the door to meet the face of a monstrous nightmare that opened it's mouth- fire building in the back of it's throat.

Astrid flew down the stairs and slammed the door shut at the same time Hiccup did. She felt the door heating up and nudged her ward away from the door to keep his back from getting burnt.

"Go through the back door, you idiot!" She didn't need him to be getting burnt before the sun had even risen.

"The... the back door. I'm gonna go out the back door." He muttered and zipped to the back door of his house. Bursting through the door he made his way to the forge on a familiar path. Passersby yelled at him to get back inside as he ran through the thrall of vikings all preparing for a fight. Astrid flew overhead watching for any danger- occasionally pulling him left or right to keep him from running into someone. Or making him duck as people waved large blades and didn't take into account that a small person might be standing in their path.

The forge came into view and Hiccup sprinted the last stretch and made it inside safely. Astrid slumped against the closed door. She didn't get paid enough for this. Well, she didn't get paid at all but still. She thought she deserved something. This was above and beyond the call of duty. As she had told the High Council on the few occasions that they had asked her back to Asgard for an update.

"This kid- it's- it's gotta be a mistake!" She relayed on her first visit.

"Please, Astrid, the Gods do not make mistakes. I'm sure everything will become clear in time. Patience is a virtue you know." A withered old angel spoke from his seat across the room.

"So is not setting your own hair on fire! But that happened last week. Please tell me that there's some magic sword or something that I've just gotta get into his hands or something?" She thrust her hands out at the council who all just shook their heads and told her that she must be patient and trust in the Gods plan. Honestly, the Valkyries had it easy, she thought. They just had to fetch the valiant dead and bring them to Valhalla- they didn't have to guide them through the messy parts of life and try not to rip out their hair when their promised "great warriors" set loose an entire flock of sheep while trying to create a mass sheering station. She felt like a foot soldier trying to win a war. She would take the hard hits and then the generals would get the glory.

"You're late!" Gobber waved Hiccup into the stall as the boy tied his work apron around his too skinny waist.

"Yeah, yeah sorry I got held up!" Hiccup got to work on sharpening the pile of swords as he eyed the contraption in the corner. Astrid saw where he sight line ended and smacked her forehead. He could not actually be thinking about using that thing could he?

A massive fireball landed outside and Hiccup ran to the open window of the stall to get a better look. His cousin led the fire squad; made up of Fishlegs (his once upon a time friend) and Ruffnut and Tuffnut- twins who almost caused as much destruction as he had. Oh, their job was so much cooler than his. He leaned out farther to get a better look and Gobber's metal hand pulled him back inside.

"Oh no you don't. Back inside."

"Please! Let me get out there! I've got to make my mark!" Hiccup argued though it was impossible to take him seriously while he was still hanging from Gobber's hand.

"You've made plenty of marks." Astrid crossed her arms and nodded her head at a pile of broken wall parts. "All in the wrong places."

"You've made plenty of marks. All in the wrong places." Gobber said as he put Hiccup down.

"Hah! See, even Gobber agrees with me."

"Just let me get out there! Two minutes! I'll slay a dragon and my life will get infinitely better! Everyone will forget about the curse thing! I might even get a date."

"You can't swing a hammer, you can't lift an ax, you can't even throw one of these!" Gobber pulled out a bola- though it was only in his hand for a good 5 seconds before a random viking from the crowd reached in and grabbed in in lieu of a sword.

"He does have a point you know." Astrid spoke from her place leaning on the wall. "What are you gonna do? Sass the dragons to death?"

"I won't have to!" Hiccup backed up to the odd contraption in the corner. "This will throw it for me."

He patted the top of the invention with what Astrid was sure was meant to convey confidence but the thing sprung to life and fired a bola at someone passing by in the crowd and Hiccup shrunk back onto himself and began to mutter about how it was a mild calibration issue.

"Now this righ' here is the issue! If you ever wan' to get out there you're goin' to have to stop all of... this." Gobber made a vague gesture towards Hiccup's small frame.

"You just gestured to all of me?"

"Yes, exactly. You need to stop all of this."

"Oh hoh." Hiccup tried to puff himself up and Astrid held back a snort of laughter.

"Keeping this much raw viking energy contained- there will be consequences!" He shouted at Gobber and Astrid couldn't hold back her laughter. At which Hiccup turned and glared in her general direction.

Gobber said something about them needing him out there and for Hiccup to watch the stall. Which of course he wouldn't do, Astrid thought. And sure enough within two minutes she was following him out the door as he pushed that infernal thing he called The Mangler into the fray.

"If you want to kill a dragon there's like a million right here! Why are you going all the way up here... unless... oh you've got to be kidding me!" Hiccup stopped at the peak of a high enough cliff and set up his machine to point out over the ocean. Astrid stood beside him and pointed back to the village.

"Listen to me! I get it! You want to kill a dragon and I am in total support of that but there's some nice slow gronkles out over the town that you could kill. You don't have to try to kill a freaking night fury. Let's work our way up to that, okay?"

For the past year he had gotten it into his head that he was going to be the first one to down a night fury. And at first Astrid had been proud. It was a hero's goal. If he could accomplish this it would clear any of her doubts that her time had been wasted and Hiccup would pass out of history without even a footnote about him. But he should at least do some basic viking training first. How was he expecting to actually kill the creature? From what she'd seen of his invention he had devised it to only down the dragon. Not actually kill it. What if it burst out of the ropes and turned on the boy?

"Hiccup, please." she rested a hand on his shoulder. "If by some miracle you actually do hit the fastest dragon known to man how are you going to kill it? I will find some lazy gronkle or something that you can sneak up on."

"Gimme something to shoot at, c'mon something to shoot at." Hiccup ignored to feeling that he was doing something stupid and narrowed his eyes at the sky.

The angel threw her hands up to the sky at the same time a high pitched keening began and seconds later a blue fireball lit up the sky. She saw the shadow at the same time Hiccup did. And he pulled the trigger.

The momentum flung him backwards and Astrid made no move to make sure he was ok because she was frozen by the fact that he actually hit it.

"Oh I hit it." Her ward sprung to his feet and lifted his arms in victory "I hit it! Did anyone see that?"

"I saw that! I did!" Astrid answered, ignoring the issue that he couldn't see or hear her. "It went down off Raven's Point, Hiccup!" She took to the skies to try to get a better view of where the dragon fell. She could just make out that blue flame off in the distance- like the creature was firing off angry flames. And then her Grace lit on fire too. And when she looked back down at where she had left her ward her heart went into her throat.

A monstrous nightmare had climbed the cliff and crushed Hiccup's contraption and pinned him under it's feet in the process.

Astrid screamed and dropped into a free fall. She landed on the ground at the same time the nightmare's skin caught fire- with Hiccup still under it's feet.

"No!" She pulled her ax out and swung wildly at the creature- _trying to get it off him it had to get off Hiccup oh Gods please it's BURNING HIM he's going to die_

By nothing else than pure coincidence another viking ran within the dragons sight line and the nightmare took off after a bigger kill leaving a whimpering boy with smoldering clothes.

Astrid dropped to her knees and cupped her wards face in her hands. His face was red and bloody and everything smelt like death. His eyes opened and tears leaked out.

Oh, Gods, her ward was going to die.

Her Hiccup was going to die.

Astrid felt tears streaming down her face. She'd forgotten she could cry.

"Who... hhgg.. w-who are y-you?" Hiccup's eyes focused on her face. Everything burned. Except where she was touching him.

"You can see me?" Astrid choked. Tears dropped onto his face and she remembered all the times she wished she could just speak to him like a normal person. He was halfway dead anyway. He must have been pushing through the veil.

"Y-you're that ghost, right?" He spoke softly- like he didn't want to move his mouth too much.

"Something like that." How could she let this happen. Hundreds of years and she was the first guardian to lose someone like this. This couldn't happen. It just couldn't. There had to be something.

There was something.

Astrid spread her wings, ignoring the shock on Hiccup's face, and moved her hands to his chest.

"W-What are you- ouch oh, Gods." He closed his eyes in pain and felt his breath becoming uneven.

She could feel a heat building inside her and wiped her tears. There wasn't time for her crying right now. She thought about how she'd watched him grow, she thought about how he imagined things that no one else could ever dream of. She thought about how he was so smart and that if you had a problem you could set it in front of him and he would fix it. She thought about how he was still trying so hard to be something that everyone would be proud of. The heat bubbled behind her navel and she forced it up and into her arms. It burned- but she couldn't complain because this was her fault. Her Grace moved down her arms and into her hands. She could see it. Pulsing in time with her heartbeat. Everything that made her an Angel. It shined like starlight and she pushed and watched the starlight sink into his skin.

She screamed. And Hiccup screamed. And she couldn't keep her eyes open because it felt like looking at the sun. Her hands felt like she'd stuck them into the forge.

She only pulled away when Hiccup's scream cut short and the light had began to dim.

**AN: I thought I was going to take two weeks or so and write a whole bunch but I can't restrain myself. I tricked you all. I have mislead you. Updates in the future may not be quite so quick. But we can hope. And all your reviews certainly helped (wink wink nudge nudge).**

**Also, quick shout out to my friend Hubert because he is literally the driving force behind this whole operation. As in he's the one I message when I get ideas and everything snowballs from there and we end up with monstrosities like this.**

**A quick answer on something. Astrid is neither an angel of the traditionally Christian sense, nor is she a Valkyrie. I don't feel completely comfortable in my knowledge on either mythologies so I'm making up my own/taking inspiration. All will be explained, probably in the next chapter. Don't worry friends. Thank you for reading! Please remember to review/leave feedback. **


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: A quick beginning authors note to remind readers that I am entirely mixing mythologies here. Do not expect it to be strictly Norse or anything else. We're making our own way, kiddos.**

Hiccup's eyes opened as the sun rose over the horizon. He shot to his feet and looked down at his arms and torso expecting to see burnt flesh but all he saw was skinny, freckled arms just as he saw every day. Usually a disappointing sight he was more relieved than he'd ever been to see those fishbone arms. There were burn marks on his clothes and some of the edges still smoked but the skin underneath was pink and smooth. He felt his breath catch in his chest at the same time a wave of dizziness caught him and he slumped back down to the still damp with dew grass. His entire head was spinning and after the fear left him it was replaced with nausea. This was worse than the time he had accidentally drank his fathers good ale.

"Great, so now not only do I get to imagine ghosts following me around I imagine being killed by a monstrous nightmare. Fantastic, just what my day needed." The confused boy dropped his head into his hands and tried to remember what he could. He remembered shooting something, and then burning and screaming like hell, and then a cool breeze washing over him and gentle hands cupping his face and looking into beautiful blue eyes.

"….mm... n-not a ghost..." Hiccup's head whiplashed up from his hands at the voice and he spotted a lump of cloth laying next to the remains of the Mangler. A battle ax lay about a foot to the left of the mass and blonde hair peeked out from underneath the hood. Trying to ignore the flip flopping of his stomach and the blood pumping through his head he scrambled over to the body.

"Oh, Gods, are you alright?" His hand moved the hood to the side and then pulled back as he saw the face underneath. He continued to mutter and run his mouth a mile a minute until his eyes focused on the face beneath the hood.

A girl about his age. With a round face and golden hair. And he knew her. He _knew _her. He'd _drawn _her before- thinking she was just someone he'd imagined in his loneliness. She stirred to life and opened her eyes. Dazed and confused and looking like she felt the way he did. Halfway between passing out and throwing up. The girl locked eyes with him and with shaking arms pushed herself up to her knees.

"Hiccup?" She reached towards his face- then yanked back her hand when her fingertips made contact with his cheek.

"Should I- should I know you?" He stopped himself, because that wasn't what he needed to know "No, no I do know you I guess the question is _how _do I know you?"

* * *

><p>Astrid felt lighter and not in a good way. No, scratch that. Her back felt lighter and her stomach felt heavier. And double the 'not in a good way'. She felt like all her limbs weren't quite attached right and she needed a very, very long nap. But Hiccup was safe and alive and most importantly he was still staring at her and holding her gaze. Forcing herself to break his eye contact she tried to stand up straight.<p>

"Uuumm... I really don't think you should be trying to get up yet." He caught her arm and _oh damn he was making complete physical contact with her. _"Now, do you mind telling me who you are? Because I am really, very, confused here."

"C'mon, you haven't figured it out yet?" Astrid gave him a half hearted smirk and watched those gears turn in his head. After a few moments he shook his head and she sighed and shook her head - so much for smartest kid on Berk.

"Congratulations, I'm your guardian angel." She gave what she meant to be grand sweeping gesture but ended up being more of her flopping her arms to the ground.

Hiccup stared at her and pursed his lips- looking like he was going to say something exceptionally stupid and that would get him in quite a lot of trouble. It was a look she had gotten very used to by now.

"No offense, but I thought angels were supposed to be great and powerful. Because right now I'm pretty sure _I _could beat you in a fight." She was right. Something exceptionally stupid.

"I just saved your life and pretty much destroyed myself in the process. Do not even try that sass with me right now, Hiccup." She tried to fit as much venom as she could into a single look. At least he had the decency to look ashamed and to try to help her as she moved back to lean on a rock jutting out of the ground. She smacked his hand away and, again, was taken back by the fact that she could touch him. Laying her hands against her head she tried to think.

She had destroyed her Grace to heal him. Torn it into barely recognizable shreds and stamped on it. She was in uncharted waters here. There was no guidebook or handy little pamphlet. You've Destroyed Your Grace: Here's What's Going On. Nothing to tell her what was going to happen or what she was going to do. She swore under her breath and tried to calm herself down.

"What's a grace?" Astrid lifted her head to see Hiccup staring at her with curious eyes. There was obviously a million questions swimming in his head and she was surprised that he stopped at just this one.

"You were muttering it, sorry. A lot of swear words and I'm kind of beginning to doubt even more you're an angel because I didn't think it was particularly angelic to say those types of things."

"Please, by all means, oh angel expert tell me more about how you're doubting the fact that I'm an angel when I just pulled your sorry ass halfway back from death's door." If she had her strength back she would punch him. She sighed and leaned her head back on the rock.

"A Grace is... well... it's hard to explain. It's what makes me an angel. I guess the closest word I could get would be 'soul'. " She paused and licked her lips. Her throat felt dry and parched. Thirsty? Was she thirsty? She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt thirsty. But her ward needed an explanation- he was being unusually patient. She figured after she almost let him die she could explain what was going on.

Not that she knew 100% either but she would die before she admitted to him that she was one more hiccup from going completely off the deep end.

And he was being patient. He sat, rapt with attention and confusion, if a little dreary looking. Apparently his patience was wearing thin because not before long he spoke up.

"And it's how you...saved me?" He hesitated and looked back downs at where his burn marks should have been.

"Yeah. But it's not exactly something I'm supposed to do. Miracles that could be little more than coincidence only. Not full on healing and bringing someone back from the doors of death" The angel shifted and ran her hands over her arms- remembering the way it burned her as it moved and pulsed and surged through her extremities. "It's like trying to take all your blood out, give some of it to you, and put it back in."

He stared at her and paled even more than before. The blonde girl shifted and opened her mouth to give him the full story.

Angels were the foot soldiers of the Gods. If you were to use human terms for it. Given the tasks that needed to be performed on Earth and then expected to report back to the High Council. 5 of the eldest angels- mouthpieces for the Gods, deliberators and generals who sat in an ivory tower every day and night and moved lower angels around like chess pieces on a board. And Astrid was a born soldier. She was fierce and from the day she arrived in Asgard, dressed in white rags and clutching an ax she looked like she'd been brought into the world holding, she moved up the ranks; always looking for a bigger challenge. When the horn rang out to signal that a guardian was going to be chosen she was always the first their to beg for it to be her. It was a great honour to be chosen- the highest honor.

There were rumors that angels who successfully guided their wards through their fate successfully received the Gods Favor. But any former guardian she'd asked about the subject remained mum on the subject. And not too many of them hung around afterwards anyway. Many spent the majority of their time in Valhalla with their passed on victors.

Seven times she had gone and been passed over and she heard tales of how well some other angel had guided their victor through life all the while knowing she could have done it better. The months before Hiccup's birth she imagined her ward. How she would guide him through battle after battle. Taking down entire armies and armadas and giving power to his battle cry.

"So why are you guarding _me?" _Hiccup interrupted her, gesturing loudly to his measly physique. "There's gotta be a mistake or something here."

"Believe me, I thought so too." She felt like she was getting a bit of her strength back and rose to her feet, slowly but surely. "But this isn't something you make mistakes about. I could feel it the moment you were born. You're gonna defeat the dragons."

* * *

><p>Hiccup was having difficulty processing the day so far. This was a lot to take in. A gorgeous, and absolutely terrifying, girl appears as you're dying and saves you and then tells you she's an angel and you're destined for greatness.<p>

Yep. Totally something he could handle.

And it wasn't even fully daybreak yet. Awesome.

"Defeat... the dragons?" He repeated. Feeling the words rolls off his tongue. They should give him strength and feel like slipping back into a perfectly fitting tunic but instead they felt like a mouth full of sand. And here was his "Guardian Angel" telling him that was his fate too. So that had to be it.

"Yes." She grabbed him by the back of his shirt; hauling him to his feet. "To take down the dragon scourge once and for all. You did somehow manage to shoot down a night fury."

Whether from the realization that _he hit it he actually hit the night fury _or the quick pull to his feet he doubled over and tried to steady himself by placing his hands on his knees.

"I hit it? I actually _hit it?" _Hiccup's face broke into a gin and he looked towards her- waiting for her to say something about how she was just joking. When she didn't he pulled himself back up.

"This is- This is incredible!" She had to duck to narrowly avoid his arm's gesturing. "This is gonna change everything for me! I can't believe it I really actually did it. I mean there were a few times I thought I hit one but really it was just a bird or another bola or Fishleg's that one time-"

"Hiccup, I know. Now we need to go get your father and try to get a search party out there." Astrid grabbed his shoulder to stop him from swaying too much in his dizzying excitement. "It went down off Raven Point."

Hiccup nodded and turned to run off towards the village but skidded to a stop after a few feet. He turned back to the blonde girl. With the sun rising at her back, bathing her in a halo of sunlight, he let go of any doubts that she was his guardian angel. She looked ethereal. And how could he have shot down a night fury without someone looking out for him? He allowed his heart to swell in hope. Things were going to change.

"So... what's your name?"

"Huh?" She cocked her head to the side.

"What's your name? Or do angel's not have names? Am I supposed to just call you Angel? Because that sounds a little weird." He waited for her to catch up to him.

"Astrid." She pulled into step beside him. "My name is Astrid."

* * *

><p>They began the trek down the side of the hill with Astrid leading and Hiccup stumbling along, still not feeling quite up to par, behind. All the while with him shouting questions at her back.<p>

"Wait, so you've been with me my whole life?"

"Yep." She shouted back at him.

"And you know everything about me?"

"Pretty much."

If Astrid had been following him she would have seen his ears burn bright red in embarrassment.

"And what's going to happen now? I mean- with your busted...angel...magic? Is there like a medicine or a potion or something you have to take to get better?"

"No, I just wait and see. It might come back or it might not." She hoped she hid the fear in her voice well enough. To think all these years she wished she could talk to him and one of the first things he says is "Busted angel magic".

Before long they arrived at the village and Hiccup was struck with another thought.

"Will everyone be able to see you?"

Astrid paused midstep and had to wonder that to herself.

"Only one way to find out." She answered after she realized she had no clue as to if she would be fully visible on not. Stepping out into the fully awake village she held her breathe- and only relaxed it when everyone continued to pass her by without notice. She stepped directly in front of a few vikings to make sure and none of them swerved or gave any indication that they could see her blocking their path. She shook her head at Hiccup, who was waiting hidden by the long shadows of the still early morning. He followed her into the village centre and she made it clear that they weren't going to waste any time in finding the chief and organizing a hunting party for the downed Night Fury. It took only a moment to pick out the red hair of Stoick the Vast.

"Dad!" Hiccup called out and ran towards his father- invisible angel in tow. "Oh Dad you'll never believe this- I just-" But he didn't get a chance to finish as Stoick's face turned bright red and steamed at the sight of his son.

"Where were you?" Stoick advanced on Hiccup, towering over him. "Weapons stall unmanned, no sign of you anywhere. For all we'd known you'd been carried off!"

From the crowd that had gathered to watch the public ridicule of Hiccup Snotlout stepped forward.

"Too bad he wasn't! It would have saved us a lot of trouble." His cousin sneered in his direction. What hurt worse was his father not protesting the fact.

"Ok, ok I know it _looks _bad but really I-" Again Hiccup was cut off by his father.

"You're damn right it looks bad. Good men were hurt because you couldn't be bothered to watch the weapons stall- fighting with blunted blades or no weapons at all! Why can you not stay put or follow the simplest orders? Everywhere you go it's another disaster waiting to happen."

"Ok, but I hit a night fury." The small boy used the momentary lapse in Stoick's yelling.

Half the crowd burst into laughter and the other half just sighed and shook their heads. Astrid watched as Hiccup desperately tried to explain to them that he was being serious and yes _he really did hit one this time please believe me_ and then was sent back to his house with Gobber as an escort. All the joy that she'd seen in him on the top of the cliff left his eyes and he hung his head and trudged to Gobber's side. Again, all she could do was watch and it killed her. Because it was true. She wished with everything she had that she could get them to believe her.

She followed far enough behind to just barely hear Hiccup trying to get Gobber to believe him. Fine, if no one would believe her ward they were going to find the thing on their own. They would bring back the beasts heart on a silver platter and present it to the entire village to see. Let them try to laugh that off.

Gobber left as the young boy entered the house and Astrid ran the last few steps up the stairs and into the house. The door still off it's hinges and blackened from the monstrous nightmare the night before.

"Don't think we're letting them get off the hook that easy. We're gonna go find that damn thing ourselves." She yelled as soon as she entered the house. Hiccup emerged at the top of the stairs from his room and lifted his sketchbook and a dagger up for her to see.

"Already ahead of you. Let's get going."

The two snuck out the back door and hurried into the dense forest.

"Where'd you say you saw this thing go down?" Hiccup scratched off another location in his sketchbooks map of Berk. They were in their fourth hour of searching and had come up with nothing yet.

"I _said _it went down off Raven's Point. But then I got distracted by _someone _almost getting himself killed." Astrid was a few feet in front of him, drudging through the thick bush of pine and heather and trying to get used to her body feeling like it had an actual weight to it. She wished she could fly up and find it but she still felt weak- like a good gust of wind could knock her to the ground- and those were not conditions she wanted to test out 50 feet in the air.

The two were quiet for a moment before Hiccup mumbled another apology. She sighed and sat down on a felled tree trunk and motioned for him to join her. The day was warming up and she felt almost too hot. Unclasping the button at her neck she tossed off her cloak she loosened and stretched the muscles in her stiff wings. They felt cramped and bruised and vaguely burned.

"_Whoa_" Hiccup's eye's glued to her back and his mouth dropped. She couldn't help but feel smug at his reaction.

"Is that because of the... the Grace thing?" He pointed at her wings and she realized his expression wasn't one of awe but of horror. She strained her wing to the side for her to see and it took every ounce of her willpower not to scream out.

Some feathers were dyed red with blood, others were blackened to a crisp and some were entirely gone. There were what looked like slash marks across the bone at the top and dried blood crusted along the closest remaining feathers. They were mutilated. A fallen angel. These were the wings of an angel who had fallen out of the God's Sight and Care's. Her shoulders began to shake and she pushed her panic down as far as she could. She couldn't let this destroy her. Staying strong was the most important thing. This was her fault. She would deal with it. _Don't cry don't cry don't cry calm down breathe it's going to be ok don't cry be strong you are so strong._

"I... I think it's a punishment. Or a balance. I'm not supposed to interfere in your life the way I did." She hid her eyes under her long bangs and hoped Hiccup had enough sense to look away. "I'm just supposed to be there to guide you and protect you. I had to give something up to heal you the way I did. The God's are... all about balance."

She was grateful that Hiccup was silent. Anything he tried to say to comfort her might have been the breaking point. The forest was silent as well. Any birds she heard were off far in the distance. The moss under her feet was spongy and soft and moved when she pressed her feet down harder on the ground. She lifted her foot and stared at the footprint she had left in the soft ground. Leaving marks on the world around her like any other human. Was she more human now? Or was she just less angel? The light shifted in the forest and left her in the dark. Typical. She almost had to laugh at Sol's sense of humor. But then the new direction of the light illuminated a tree, or what was left of a tree, just to the left of her.

"Hiccup?" She stood, putting her mind off her broken wings, and smiling at the tree trunk that looked like it had been struck by a battering ram. "I think we're on the right path here."

She directed his gaze towards the shattered tree. And just beyond a pathway of upturned dirt and more broken trees that could have only been caused by one thing.

**AN: Welp there we go! A bit shorter than I wanted and I really did want to get to the part where they meet Toothless but this just feels like a good spot to stop. Don't wanna force things just to get to a certain word count. Though that being said that means I already have the next part of this written haha. I wanted to have this out a few days ago as well but work got in the way and then I went out partying and partied too hard and well we won't get into that...**

**Again, please review. It really means a lot and I love every review I get. Really it does. Fanfiction doesn't grow on trees. Or if it does it needs reviews to water and feed it. I don't know I lost my metaphor have a good night.**


	4. Chapter 4

The deep rut cut into the ground, leaving upturned dark and fertile soil, rocks and broken tree roots in its wake. Were it back in the village Astrid would have thought it disastrous- but here in the forest it was as good as a gold paved pathway to their glory. Illuminated by the midday light, filtered through the pines, it looked like a sign from the gods. Perhaps it was, she thought in the back of her mind. Maybe after all that her and Hiccup had been through those that had decided his fate long ago were finally throwing them a bone. It was the least they could do, really.

"Well, the dragon's not going to come to us. Let's get going." Astrid pulled Hiccup up to his feet and gave him a hard push towards the pathway. He stumbled but quickly righted himself. She watched him puff up his small chest and steady his breath then he rushed down to the path the dragon had left for them. She wished she'd thought to make him arm himself with something more than his tiny knife. Her heart pounded, heavy in her chest. Pressing a hand to her sternum she tried to pinpoint where it would usually flutter or pulse in times like this but the most she could feel was a something like a sputtering cough. Like gears and cogs desperately trying to catch she could almost feel the remains of her Grace moving around in her chest.

She felt weak. And disconnected from the world instead of a part of it. Astrid wondered if this was what humans felt like all the time.

"Are you coming with me? Or is this some 'You've Got To Do This On Your Own' type of deal?" Hiccup's voice from a few feet down the path snapped her out of her self pitying musing. "Because it's not like I'm at all terrified of facing a dragon on my own but let's just say something goes wrong and I need some divine intervention."

Astrid smirked to herself and caught up with him in a few easy steps. Relief was palpable on his face. She didn't quite want to tell him that she was severely doubting her ability to make any "divine interventions", as he had put it, at the moment. The dragons pathway continued down a rocky hill. It was a straight line and didn't give any hint that its crash had been slowed by the many trees and rocks it must have crashed into. But it would take more than a few bumps and bruises to take down a night fury and she was hoping that the ropes that Hiccup had used for the net were strong enough to hold it. The two were quiet as the followed the groove downhill and the tension hung in the air like a day of rare summer humidity. Nerves ate at her skin and she wished Hiccup would say something, anything, even something stupid and sarcastic to break up the deafening silence. The birds had quieted and the wind in the tree branches sounded muffled. Their breathing and steps, quiet as they were, made them feel like intruders in the forest... and their footfalls soon lead them to a clearing in the old growth forest.

In the centre of the clearing lay the dragon.

Astrid's first thoughts were that of victory and triumph.

Hiccups were that it looked small. Bundled in a net in the daylight it was hard to believe that this was the dragon that haunted even the toughest of Viking's nightmares. The sun beamed down on it illuminating thing's that no one would ever notice in the night. It's sleek body; perfectly designed for high speed flights. The fringes that lined its face. The fact that for all the terror it inspired in his heart there was nothing particularly frightening or threatening about its appearance. It had no sharp horns like a Monstrous Nightmare or anything that looked like Nadder's tail spines to shoot at it's prey. Even it's claws looked duller than other dragons. No. All of this creatures fear factors came from it's reputation as a perfect hunter. The dragon that never misses. And always took out their first lines of defense with an uncounted fire shot limit. But here in the sunlight and trapped within his net it looked more like a deer caught in a hunters trap than the ultimate prize. He pushed down the strange guilty feeling and forced his face into a grin. This was his moment and he wouldn't let himself ruin it.

"I- I did it! I actually did it!" Hiccup turned to face Astrid who was staring at the dragon like it was a hidden treasure. "This fixes everything! I can't believe I did it!"

"Would it sound bad if I agreed?" The blonde girl stepped closer to the dragon, her eyes still fixed on it. Hiccup didn't let her doubt in him phase him and whirled back to face the night fury and pulled his knife out of the inside pocket of his fur vest.

"I have brought down this mighty beast! Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third- Useless No More!" He brandished his knife like it was a great broad sword and stepped onto the creature like he'd seen his father step on the corpses of so many dragons before him- and then fell back when he felt it stir under his boot. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Astrid flinch and grasp her ax a little tighter as she moved to stand behind him.

"Kill it." He just barely heard her whisper. Turning his knife in his hand he tried to ignore the shaking of his arms and moved alongside the night fury to get better access to it's chest. Looking up at it's head he saw it's eyes had opened.

Acid green surrounded a black slit. Like veins of precious metals in the side of a mountain rivets of yellow and gold ran through the green iris and for a moment Hiccup had the odd sensation of falling though his body did not move. He'd seen a glimpse of this colour before though- it was the same colour he saw in his own eyes. Guilt pooled in his stomach and his mind latched on to the fact that that colour was _so familiar to him._ The black pupil widened and the boy saw himself reflected in the dragons eye.

Then the night fury gave a moan and closed it's eyes. Leaning back it's head it looked like it was

giving in without any struggle. It was so easy. It wasn't fighting back against him. An easy kill.

"Hiccup! Kill it now!" He heard Astrid hiss from behind him.

He nodded and flipped his knife over again in his hands.

"I'm gonna kill you, dragon." Hiccup raised the knife over his head. "I'm gonna kill you and cut out your heart and... and take it to my father. And then everyone will see."

"Stop stalling! Kill it now before it breaks out. You're a Viking, aren't you? Kill that damned thing already!" Astrid was yelling at him but it sounded muffled. He was a Viking. He was born for this. Killing dragons was as natural to Vikings as breathing.

"I am a Viking." He spoke to himself.

"I _am a Viking!" _He shouted at the dragon. Half of him wished it would stir into action. Try to attack him. To make his kill of it in self defense instead of this. Months ago his father had taken him hunting and to check their snares. In one they had found a deer- a great buck with a full rack of antlers. It was alive but had exhausted all it's energy long ago struggling against the rope and gave no struggle as his father cut its throat. Hiccup remembered thinking it's eyes, though they blinked at him, already looked dead. The rack of antlers hung above the front doorframe of his house and every morning he tried to avoid looking at them as best he could. He was going to do the same to this dragon. Cut it's still beating heart out and mount its head up on his wall for everyone to stare at and for him to avoid looking at every day of his life.

Hiccup brought his arms up higher; breathed in, breathed out.

And let his arms drop down.

He stared at the knife in his hands and then at the stilled dragon on the ground.

"I did this."

"What are you doing? Yes, you did this! You brought it down- _now finish the job!_" Hiccup felt Astrid push him forward with a slap on the back. He leaned forward but instead of pressing the knife against the dragons throat or chest he pressed it against it's bonds. His hands flew. Cutting through the ropes as Astrid yelled at him. As the final rope snapped under the pressure of his blade he turned his head to tell her he was sorry but instead was thrust on his back by the dragon he had just freed. Closing his eyes against the pain that exploded from the back of his head when it smacked against a boulder.

"_Hiccup!" _He heard Astrid scream and tried to catch the breath that had been knocked out of him. The weight of the dragons paw easily held him motionless against the boulder he had been shoved against. He opened his eyes and green met green. Again, he felt like he was falling into the toxic green eyes of the dragon. They were hypnotizing. For a moment he forgot he was most likely about to die. He saw the mouth open and heard the dragon breathing in- no doubt preparing for a fire blast. Closing his eyes he tried to brace himself for death.

_I'm going to be killed by a dragon for the second time today._

Astrid watched in horror as the night fury reared back. She raised her axe and prepared to bring it down onto the dragons neck but fell backwards when it let loose an ear splitting roar. She shut her hands against her ears to try to block out the sound but it was so loud and angry that she could feel it in her chest. The roar lasted only a moment and she sprang back up with her axe already ready to slam into the dragons body but it was gone. She whipped her head around and saw it shoot through the trees- crashing through the branches and heading south. They had been so close. So close. Turning her head back around to face the boy she turned her ax on him instead.

"You _idiot! _What in the world were you thinking?! Everything you've worked for- _everything I've worked for_ you just threw away!" With every word she spit at him she took a step until she stood over top of him with her the head of her ax inches away from his neck. What infuriated her even more was that he gave no indication that he'd heard her at all. Hiccup pressed a hand to his chest as if to make sure his heart was still beating. If looks could kill though the look Astrid gave him would certainly have stopped its beating. Him ignoring her spurred more anger into her heart and she grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him up and forcing him to meet her gaze. Confusion. Fear. Relief- all floated in his eyes.

"Why?" Was the only word she spat into his face.

"I... I don't know. I'm sorry." He broke the eye contact and ducked his head down, hiding his eyes with the long mop of brown hair.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" She dropped her ax and used both hands to hold the green fabric of his shirt. "You just ruined everything! Do you have any idea of what you've just given up? First to kill a _Night fury!_ Everything you've messed up you could have fixed!"

"I messed up?!" His shaking hands grasped her wrists and she heard a rare burst of real anger leach out into his voice. So many times Hiccup would hide his anger in sarcasm or push it down and swallow it. He pulled his head back up and met her eyes again.

"You're half the reason everyone hates me." He didn't raise his voice but spoke evenly. "Everyone calls me _cursed _because of you! I even thought I was cursed- or crazy!"

"I'm doing my job here! Helping you become-"

"A hero?" Hiccup interrupted her. "Maybe I don't want that! Did the Gods ever think of that? Did you ever think that maybe this was all just a waste of time? Give up, okay? I just proved that I can't even kill a dragon when it's wrapped up like a present for me. I'm not going to be a hero!"

"_I didn't give up my wings for nothing!" _

Astrid dropped him to the ground with more force than necessary and held her fists at her side. Pointless. It couldn't be pointless. She'd worked too hard and had given up too much for them to just give up. The image of her mangled wings burned into her mind. For nothing. It couldn't be for nothing.

"I didn't nearly destroy myself for you to give up. I didn't break my Grace for you to just fade out of history. I'll fix this." She picked up her axe and heaved it over her shoulder. "I'll kill it. You can tell everyone in the village that you did it."

"What? You can't do that!" Hiccup grabbed her arm to pull her back but she pulled out of his grasp easily. "Just listen to me for a second, okay?" He hurried to stand in front of her and tried to block her path.

"Get out of my way, Hiccup. I'm finishing this."

"Can you just wait for a second and think this through! There's no guarantee that you'll even be able to kill that thing. You said yourself that you don't know what's going to happen to you! If you try anything right now it might kill you! But by all means. Go barging off without a word or consulting the boy who's entire life you're deciding!" With a grand flourish he stepped aside and gestured for her to go on ahead of him and was relieved when she didn't take his bluff and instead let her weapon drop to the ground. Hiccup watched her sit down on the ground, curl up and let her head drop onto her knees. He waited a moment before sitting down next to her.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't do it."

She didn't respond but sighed and it looked like all the energy had left her body.

"I tried, okay? I really thought I could do it. And it would have fixed everything, you're right on that part. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. It just felt _wrong._"

After what felt like hours the angel brought her head up.

"I'll figure it out, don't worry. Maybe this wasn't what you were meant to do." In her head she thought maybe this was her fault instead. Maybe if she had moved him out of the way of the nightmare in the first place things would be different. Maybe as punishment for letting him get hurt the Gods were making things harder for her.

"You're still holding on to the idea that I'm gonna be some great hero, huh?" He quipped in beside her and she was happy to see that stupid smirk back on his face.

"Yep." She replied. "Like it or not Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third you're going to be a great hero. I'm just gonna have to do it the hard way."

"Well then it's a good thing you've got me to help you now because that's the only way I know how to do things." And Astrid couldn't hold back a bark of laughter at the truth of that statement.

* * *

><p>The two spent the rest of the day in the woods thinking of different scenarios that could lead to Hiccup becoming a hero and testing out what Astrid could and couldn't do.<p>

"What about piracy? We could try to make you the most fearsome pirate on the seas?" Astrid asked as she plucked stems of heather from the grove that they were resting in. So far she had gathered a bundle of wildflowers, twigs, stray feathers and other small things. Nothing too substantial. So far it seemed that her ability to interact with the world was unchanged aside from Hiccup being able to see her. Moving small things, nothing that the average person would notice, was doable.

"Flunked out of pirate classes." Hiccup answered, not looking up from whatever he was doodling in his sketchbook. "Gobber decided it was safer for everyone else if I just stayed on dry land. There was one time I tried to raise the mast and ended up-"

"Knocking Gobber overboard. I know. I was there."

"Oh." Hiccup looked up from his drawing and flushed at the realization that there was probably no embarrassing moment in his life she hadn't seen. It was one thing to embarrass yourself on a boat full of boys and another to realize that a very pretty girl had seen him as well. And had probably also seen him flexing his nonexistent biceps in the mirror.

"Master sword-fighter?"

"Not allowed to hold swords except in the forge after-"

"You cut your family tree's tapestry in half. Yeah, forgot about that one."

"Maybe we're thinking about this all wrong. Maybe I'm supposed to do something more _average?_" Hiccup shut his book and looked up at the sky. "There's a lot of dragon fighting Vikings. Is there a chance you're supposed to just guide me in some Average Run Of The Mill Heroic thing? Like, I could go down in history as the best bread making Viking!"

Astrid laughed and stood up, letting the pile of wildflowers fall off her lap.

"Best small home repair Viking?" Hiccup offered.

"How about 'Viking to Eat The Most Plates Of Dried Fish'?" She said with a smirk, picking up her ax and studying the blade for a moment.

"Nah, I think Snotlout's already got that one in the bag- whoa whoa whoa what are you doing?" Hiccup leaped up as he saw Astrid swing back her ax and hurried to a safe distance as she drove the head of her ax into the log he had been sitting on a moment ago.

"What was that? Are you trying to kill me now? I think I've had enough of that today, thank you very much!" He yelled from his safe space behind a large pine.

"Relax. I wouldn't have hit you. I was testing something."

"Testing what exactly? How to give me a heart attack? Congrats, you figured it out! Just swing a large, incredibly deadly ax in my general direction!" Hiccup gestured wildly with his hands.

"Not that deadly. Look." His eyes followed where her finger pointed. The log, which he expected to be cloven in two, was unharmed except for a small mark. It looked like he'd carved into the log with his knife instead of it being attacked by an angry angel with violent tendencies. He emerged from his hiding spot and ran his hand along the mark.

"It's warm." He remarked. The groove in the log gave off a strange heat.

"Before nothing would have happened. I'm not supposed to be able to use my weapon on things from the mortal world." The blonde girl ran her thumb along the blade of her axe. "It's not much but I think it means I can interact with this world a little more."

"What does that mean for you?" Hiccup looked up from the log at the girl who stood before him. With her wings tucked away she really did just look like a normal human. Clad in regular Viking clothing she wouldn't stand out if she suddenly became visible to the greater Berk population. Heck, she would probably be welcomed.

"I think it means... I'm more mortal than before."

And as if to prove a point her stomach rumbled. Hungry? She was hungry too? She hadn't needed to eat since she left Asgard- and even then eating there was more for pleasure than necessity. But she supposed it made sense. With her Grace mutilated she needed something to give her energy.

"Well, it's not so bad being mortal." Hiccup laughed and tucked his journal into his pocket. "Sure there's that whole 'totally vulnerable' thing but you'll still do better than me at not dying. C'mon, we should get back. The sun's setting and I'm getting hungry too."

The two made their way back to Hiccup's home quickly, with Astrid explaining how she hadn't eaten in years and Hiccup having a minor freak out before she explained that as an angel she hadn't needed to. As they left the forest and approached his door he stopped her.

"Okay, hang on, don't go testing anything while my dad's around, promise? I really don't want to try to explain to him why there's random plates flying overhead. Or scratches all over his chair." He had just finished repainting it from when he accidentally set it on fire testing out self-lighting flaming arrows.

"But I wanted to try-"

"No! Just- just let me try to the kitchen without being seen ok? Then you can test whatever crazy angel magic you want once he leaves." Hiccup held her eyes until she nodded reluctantly. Quietly as he could he opened the door and looked inside to see his father sitting with his back turned towards the door, staring at the fire that burned in their hearth. He had a clear path to the kitchen and waved Astrid in to follow him. Slowly he made his way towards the kitchen and he was almost home free until he heard a crash behind him and had to pause mid creep.

"Hiccup?" Stoick the Vast stood to face his son. Who shot a glare at Astrid who stared down at the tall standing candle holder that had crashed to the floor when she knocked into it.

"Hey dad- hi, um how are you doing?" He moved to pick up the candle holder while giving his betrayer a dirty look.

"I'm sorry! I usually just phase through that type of thing!" She hissed and crossed her arms.

"Son, we need to talk..." Stoick began, staring Hiccup down.

"Oh, good, because I was actually just meaning to talk to you about something too!"

The two began to speak at the same time, overlapping the other sentence and Astrid smacked a palm to her forehead. Years of observing these two told her that there was no way this conversation would go well.

"You go first." Hiccup gestured for his father to keep on speaking.

"Right, you get your wish. Dragon training. You start in the morning."

"Oooooh I should have gone first. Because I was thinking we may have a surplus of dragon fighting Vikings, right?" He looked to Astrid as if for her to back him up before he remembered that she was invisible to his father and asking for her assistance would most definitely not help him prove his point. "But what about bread-making Vikings? Or small home repair Vikings?"

"Wow, repeating jokes. You really are floundering here, huh?" He wished he could have said something back to her. Maybe worked in a fish pun to go with the floundering comment. But his father continued against his protests.

"You'll need this." The chief dropped an ax into Hiccup's hand who almost dropped to the floor under it's weight. He struggled to keep it up with both hands and nearly dropped it onto his foot. Astrid slid towards him and pulled it up by the head. Hiccup was surprised by the sudden lightness of the ax until he saw Astrid was holding half the weight of it.

"I... don't wanna fight dragons." He choked out. But the large bearded Viking had already turned away; considering the conversation over.

"Oh c'mon." Stoick laughed. "Yes you do."

"Rephrase." He tried to continue. "Dad, I can't kill dragons."

"But you will kill dragon's."

"No I'm really extra sure that I-"

"Listen." The chief interrupted. "This is serious. When you carry this ax, you carry the weight of the village. You carry us all with you." Hiccup wondered how his dad would react if he knew that most of the weight was being carried by a very short fused, and very hungry angel.

"Can you not hear me-?" He tried to speak up again and had a sudden pang of sympathy for Astrid, who he realized must have felt like this all the time.

"You walk like us, you talk like us, you _think _like us. Like a true Viking. No more of... this." Stoick's massive hand gestured to his small statured son.

"You just gestured to all of me?" How many times in one day would he get this?

"Deal?" The chief's voice had an edge of finality to it. Astrid had long ago recognized this as the end of discussion voice but Hiccup, smart as he was, couldn't help but desperately still try to argue. There was no communication between the two. But this was better than the all out shouting matches she'd seen before. Then there was still no communication but at a much higher decibel.

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided."

"Deal?" What was the deal here? Hiccup thought. That I fight dragons and he... stops being ashamed of me?

Hiccup caved. There was no way he would get his father to let him out of this.

"Deal..." He let his head drop and almost didn't see his father walk across the room to grab a bag and throw it over his shoulder.

"Good." The large Viking grabbed his helmet and made for the door. "Train hard, I'll be back."

"Wait, wait, wait, where are you going?" Hiccup dropped the axe and was lucky that his fathers back was turned at the moment so he didn't see it float momentarily in mid air before Astrid set it down on the floor.

"Heilhem's Gate. One more search before the ice set's in. Like I said, I'll be back, probably."

"And I'll be here..."

"Maybe." Astrid said as Stoick closed the door behind him and Hiccup blushed as he turned back to face her.

"Sorry... you had to see that." He slumped down onto the hard couch and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've seen pretty much every fight you two have ever had. That was nothing." She leaned against the back of the couch and her stomach gave another rumble.

"Oh! Sorry, I'll make you something to eat! I almost forgot with what just happened and oh Gods what are we going to do about dragon training? I can't just not go- Gobber's the teacher and my dad will kill me if he find's out I didn't even go-" His mouth rambled as he moved to stand up and head to the kitchen but Astrid pushed him back down onto the couch and interrupted his panicked tirade.

"Hiccup, calm down. Just relax for a minute, okay?" She held her hands up in what she hoped was comforting motion. She didn't have a lot of experience with comforting people. "Look, you just- you just go to sleep, alright? You've had a long day, what with almost dying like three times and all and I've watched you cook your entire life. I'm sure I can manage making my own dinner."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Astrid's horrible cooking is probably my absolute favourite thing. Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I've been very busy the last little while. Working retail near Christmas anyone? Yeah it's killer. And my last weekend was consumed by doing a hair modelling thing- which while super fun is more tiring than it sounds. <strong>

**And who all bought the HTTYD2 DVD? I'm loving the deleted scenes! What's your favourite one so far?**

**As always; reviews make my entire life better! **


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